Smith said officials confirmed two people aboard the aircraft were killed.

No one else was injured in the crash.

Smith said it took firefighters 20 minutes to extinguish the fire, noting firefighters worked to preserve as much of the scene as possible for investigators.

"I just saw this huge plume of black smoke," said Frank Marshall, 72, who saw the smoke as he was heading home from work. "Oh my goodness it got really high. ... It was 500 or 600 feet in the air of smoke."

Marshall, a Mesa resident who lives near Falcon Field, said he had played at the course before and it appeared the crash occurred near the 10th hole.